Ridgeway, of course, is famous for beers like Santa’s Butt , Lump of Coal , Bad Elf , Very Bad Elf , Seriously Bad Elf , and Criminally Bad Elf. But if that weren’t enough to ruin your holiday fun, they’re also trying to, ummm, brown something of Santa’s as he descends down the chimney. Talk about your chestnuts roasted on an open fire.

Anyway, one could suppose Warm Welcome a bit of a jab at Samuel Smith’s perennial Winter Welcome Ale . And of course the “browned” aspect of the name refers to the fact that the malts used for this beer are gently toasted to give the ale a nutty flavor and darker color.

Ridgeway was founded when the head brewer from the old Brakspear brewery was put out of work when that company closed it’s brewing doors in 2002, per the American distributor’s website. But he certainly seems to have retained his sense of humor, at least where his holiday beers are concerned.

Warm Welcome Nut Browned Ale pours to a bright, well, brown color with a light creamy head formation and a fragrant, sweet and spicy malt nose. The palate is firmer than you might expect for an English brown ale, with a decidedly nutty malt character, a touch of butter, and even a hint of candied fruit.

In the finish, I’m getting a nice grassy-minty English hop character (perhaps some Fuggles and/or Goldings) that balances out some of the malt sweetness quite nicely. Certainly, you won’t drink this brown ale everyday-it’s a holiday seasonal, though I’m enjoying a bottle in late April and it’s still exceedingly fresh tasting. It’s a maltier, hoppier version of a brown ale with a little more alcohol, too, at 6% by volume. Think Newcastle Brown on steroids and you’ll have an idea. I really love the wonderful balance here, and the interaction between robust malt and hop.

Well worth the $3.99 price for a half liter bottle, and worth picking up as much more than a novelty brew. I picked mine up back in December in a gift pack with three other English Christmas ales, and this one I dare say was the best of the lot

Update 1/2/2021:  Once again, I got a bottle of Ridgeway Warm Welcome Nut Browned Ale in A Rather Curious Collection of Holiday Ales. I picked this up at World Market for $29.95. That's about $7.50 a bottle, and that is more than I think the beer should go for, especially when you're buying four. Heading on over to the handy dandy Inflation Calculator | Find US Dollar's Value from 1913-2020 (usinflationcalculator.com) website, this beer should cost about $5.01 in today's dollars.  Obviously, this did not deter me from purchasing.

The beers in this collection will vary, but along with my bottle of Warm Welcome my box included Very Bad Elf, Reindeer's Revolt, and Bad Elf Winter's Ale. My latest bottle of Warm Welcome Nut Browned Ale pours to a muddy brown color with a medium tan head and an inviting cookie malty nose. Taking a sip, I get more of the luscious cookie malts, toasted nuts, buttery and flinty notes, raisin bread, and an herbal bitter finish.

From the bottle label:

Yeeow! Especially for the Holidays, a brown ale with real attitude! The malts used to make Warm Welcome are roasted to give a hearty amber-brown color and a warm, rounded nutty taste. This fine ale is dedicated to all you curious brew-lovers out there who ever had serious questions about the mechanics of Santa's supposed arrival by way of chimney. (How does he do that anyway?)

Simply delightful!

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

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